Injection Molding Service

High Volume Fabrication

Injection Molding On-Demand

Looking for a significant number of plastic or resin parts? 3Diligent has you covered with our injection molding service. Offering a range of material options from Polypropylene to Nylon to Polyetherimide and a range of additional materials, we have the solution to meet the needs of your application. Morevoer, our equipment is housed both domestic and abroad, allowing us to provide you the choice of a faster turnaround or (typically) a lower price.

Want a bit more info? Read an introduction to the process and learn about 3Diligent's capabilities below.

Don't have the time to learn about every process and material we offer...just need some great injection molded parts?

Introduction to Injection Molding

Injection Molding is one of the world's go-to fabrication methods for mass production. In brief, pellets of material are heated and then injected into a mold cavity, where the part hardens in the shape of the cavity. That part is then ejected to make space for more material to be injected.

Unlike urethane or metal casting, which require significant ongoing labor inputs, the cost for injection molding is largely front loaded. Tooling for injection molds typically run in the five figures, with certain highly complex tools costing upwards of $100k. But this higher up front cost comes with a significant "per unit" discount. The variable cost of injection molding can sometimes go below $10 per part for certain geometries and materials. As a result, it is an outstanding technology for larger scale manufacturing. Part runs in the hundreds of thousands or millions of parts are possible.

3Diligent offers both domestic and overseas molding operations. If you have a particular need for domestic fabrication, please specify as much in the Additional Assurances section of a Request For Quote (RFQ) via the 3Diligent.com platform.

Read more about 3Diligent's Injection Molding options below.

Traditional Injection Molding

As detailed above, traditional molding involves the use of pelletized polymer which is heated in a barrel and injected into a mold cavity.

Traditional injection molding can be completed through the use of aluminum or steel tools. Aluminum tools are typically more affordable, but only capable of smaller quantity runs. While made of metal, aluminum tools are sometimes referred to as "soft tooling," along with silicone molds. Steel tools are pricier, but with that added cost comes better longevity. For that reason, they are commonly referred to as "hard tools" or "hard tooling." 3Diligent offers both material options to suit a range of quantities.

Reaction Injection Molding

With Reaction Injection Molding, instead of injecting molten thermoplastic material, thermoset polymer resins are used. Mixing in the tool, a "reaction" actually takes place that drives the polymerization of the input materials, resulting in a solidified part in the mold.

The lower viscosity of resin relative to thermoplastic allows for larger parts to be fabricated using the process, which often suffer from imperfections when attempted at larger sizes.

For all the benefits of reaction molding, it does have a few drawbacks. First, the range of materials available to the process is smaller than thermoplastics, and resins generally cannot deliver the same kinds of material performance that is achievable with thermoplastics. Additionally, the relative wait time for parts to set means that this process is slower on a per-part basis than traditional injection molding. As a result, it is typically most useful for quantities in the 1000-5000 piece range.

3Diligent Material Options

3Diligent offers a range of injection molding options. Among the many materials offered include ABS, Silicone, Polycarbonate (PC), Polyurethane (PU), Polyester (HDPE, and LDPE), Nylon, Polypropylene (PP) and many more. If you have a specific material in mind, please specify it in the Material Notes field of the Request For Quote (RFQ) form once logged into www.3Diligent.com.